Opening the Skies

Charting a smoother path across the Pacific.

Photography United Airlines Creative Services

Image – United Airlines Creative Services

ON OCTOBER 25, 2010, years of effort to liberalize policies regulating air service between the United States and Japan came to fruition as the two nations signed a historic Open Skies Air Services Agreement. While the United name has long been familiar to travelers in Japan, the open skies agreement will allow for new air services between the two countries and offer customers greater choices when flying throughout the Pacific region.

This milestone comes as United awaits final approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a joint application for antitrust immunity between United, Continental and our fellow Star Alliance member All Nippon Airways (ANA). With final DOT approval, the three airlines will be able to coordinate flight schedules and sales and marketing activities, offering our customers more scheduling and pricing options and access to ANA’s extensive Asian network.

United’s hubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Chicago and Washington, D.C., along with Continental’s hubs in Houston and New York, provide excellent jumping off points to major cities like Beijing, Osaka, Tokyo and Seoul and allow United to connect travelers with Taipei and Guangzhou, among many other destinations that ANA serves. Connection to such destinations will provide travelers with more seamless journeys throughout the Pacific.

Much of United’s strategy since cofounding the Star Alliance in 1997 has focused on working with world- class airlines such as ANA to open up new markets and allow for benefits such as one-stop ticketing, easier upgrades and enhanced recognition of elite customers across all Star Alliance partners.

We are now one step closer to achieving this goal and making your path across the Pacific as smooth as possible.